In Quezon City, Philippines, the Argentina team, led by Luciano De Cecco, the record holder for World Championship appearances, achieved a valuable 3:1 victory over South Korea in a Group C match of the World Championship. Thus, the "Gauchos" secured their progression to the elimination phase.
Match development
Argentina started more confidently and closed the first set with 25:22. Korea managed to respond with a minimal difference in the second (23:25), but the South Americans re-established control and took the next two sets (25:21, 25:18), thanks to better organization in attack and block.
Match statistics
| Team | Attack | Block | Serve | Opponent errors | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 53 | 15 | 9 | 21 | 98 |
| Korea | 44 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 86 |
The Argentines outperformed their opponent in all key elements – especially in blocking (15 against 10) and serving (9 aces against 5). Although the Koreans received more points from opponent errors (27 against 21), this was not enough to compensate for the difference in attack.
Top scorers
| Player | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Kukartsev (16) | Argentina | 21 |
| Vicentin (17) | Argentina | 20 |
| Donghyeok (17) | Korea | 15 |
| Subong (7) | Korea | 17 |
The pair Kukhartsev – Vicentin was at the heart of Argentina's success, scoring a total of 41 points. For Korea, Subong and Donghyeok were the top scorers, but without sufficient support from the other starters.
photo:volleyballworld.com
